Never Theirs
by seori
Summary: Beautiful, isn't she?" A foray into the recesses of the attic in which an imperial party is held. No particular characters.


**Summary:** "Beautiful, isn't she?" A foray into the recesses of the house in which an imperial party is held. No particular characters.

**Disclaimer: **Avatar: The Last Airbender is the property of those who own it.

**Notes:** Oneshot, add your own characters. This was a creative writing exercise to get my writing flowing again, after too many months of schoolwork! VCE sucks the life out of you, it really does. Constructive criticism is muchly appreciated.

**- Never Theirs -**

- by seori -

The cage rattled feebly as I stepped closer, examining the form huddling inside. Eyes closed, it shivered and moved closer to the metal bars, shuffling away from my gaze. Voices haunted the corners of the room, floating up from the party below.

I had come upstairs to fix a tear in my dress, following the winding corridors, and found -

This. A bird of unknown origin, whose feathers seemed to change colour even as I tried to fix the opalescent shades inside my mind. A bird that may or may not be the first and last of its kind.

"Beautiful, isn't she?"

A gentleman stood at the door, absentmindedly fixing his cuffs. He gestured towards the cage. "It's a pity she isn't able to feel the stars throughout her body. These creatures are part of the air, you know. It's a miracle they managed to lock one up here. She'll die without the night's influence."

"Does it have a name?" I asked.

"The species or the creature itself?" I noticed that he deliberately avoiding calling it - her - a bird.

"The creature."

"They named her the moment she was trapped. She's called Esandriel." He paused, looking towards me for the first time.

"Point of Light, in the old tongue." Another pause, and he turned towards the stair. "Would you allow me the pleasure of escorting you downstairs?"

I shook my head. "I am not in a condition to present myself to the public at the moment, sir."

"Then I won't delay you any longer in your observations. Enjoy the rest of the party." He smiled, reminding me of a kindly grandfather, and I glanced at the creature for a second on instinct. When I turned back, he had disappeared.

Esandriel. That was the creature's name. The humans had bound it to the earth with a name. She didn't deserve to be chained to the ground with one, even if it was in the old language. Heavenly creatures like these were never supposed to come close to the earth in the first place, let alone locked away in a cage, in the darkness of an attic.

It was then that she opened her eyes. They too were a colour I couldn't rightly name - I received the impression that they weren't _meant_ to be named, just like the bird itself. They darted towards the solitary source of colour in the room, fixing me in its stare. For a long moment I found myself enraptured in its sight. For a moment I couldn't breathe for the intensity of the bird-creature's emotions. She didn't _belong_ here, and she knew.

I moved, then, as if in a reverie, crossing the space in three steps and wriggling the iron hatches open. Lack of keys was no matter – hairpins would suffice.

She rose on ungainly legs, spreading giant wings to keep her balance, and hopped towards the window two feet away. A grimy windowpane of glass was all that stood between the bird and its life now. Already the colours and shades of her body seemed to become stronger, more vibrant - it knew that freedom was close at hand. A tap of the bird-creature's beak on the glass and it melted away completely. A gale of night wind caught her up in a joyful embrace - then both bird and wind disappeared.

A noise behind me made me turn, heart thumping. Had someone seen?

"An honourable deed." The gentleman had returned, belying the swiftness of his departure. "One may almost think it wasn't a crime."

I blushed. "How could I deny it the essence of its existence? She was never theirs to begin with, after all."

"Not until they named her." He extended a hand towards me. "And not until after you took it away from her."

From somewhere in the middle distance, a breeze nipped at my finger as I took the man's hand.

- end -


End file.
